Stop overs in France & Spain
First visit to Spain with the caravan. Would appreciate any advice on drive from Calais to Malaga . Eg what is a reasonable amount to drive each day and stopovers on route. And any other information you think could help us .
We also have 3 small dogs with us .
Thank you in anticipation.
Malcolm hayes
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Midwinter I take it?
Most people would go via Tours, Bordeaux, Hendaye and over the Spanish plateau. Some people however would go via Reims, Lyon, the Rhone valley and the Spanish coast although it's further - there are sites open both ways and only you can decide.
Some people drive 200 miles a day - others are happy to press on and do 300 or more, even though night falls early - and again only you can decide. I don't know your age or stamina.
So please make those choices and detailed advice on overnight stops will follow.
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You don't say what time of year. This will make a great difference on the number of sites open. As to distance, if using Autoroutes the Kms can be covered very quickly. However, whilst when I was younger I would happily do 400 miles or more, 250 / 300 is my absolute maximum these days.
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Hi everyone,
We are travelling down to Spain in the next couple of weeks ,we aim to take the ferry from Calais and arrive around 4am ( ish ) we are in our early 70s and reasonably fit so I think 200 miles should be ok . My concern is where to stop overnight, on the way are there areas or other sites where we can just pull in for a sleep . I know we cannot stay on aires in France
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Best I can suggest after Calais with that limited mileage are overnight campsites at Mezieres- sous- Lavardin, Fouras, Urrugne, and Valladolid - and it's still 400 miles to Malaga from there.
But up to there all those sites are open all year - but I am afraid have no idea whether they accept twin axle caravans if that is what you have, or whether they have any restriction on three dogs.
Take care.
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arriving Calais 4am....will you be staying near Dover the night before as youll need to be at the port for 1am ish, so wont have much sleep before embarking on the first leg of the long (and it is long) journey.
if you've had to drive directly from Warwichshire prior to hanging around Dover, thats an extra 3-4 hour drive starting at perhaps 8pm or earlier...
tag the 5-6 hr trip to (say) Tours immediately on the back, starting at 4am with three hours in the dark.....hmmm....thats possibly 10 hrs driving, mostly in the dark either in france or the uk, with a 2 hr ferry ride sandwiched in the middle....
thats a mighty long, tiring way to start a break..and then you've still got 1500+ km to go....
it depends on how much of a hurry you're in but you could get your head down somewhere in/near Calais before the off might make that first day less taxing.
Malaga is a blooming long way from Calais, 20-22 hrs on tolls and 24-26 hrs non toll...so 4-5 or so days of push on (5 hrs a day plus rest stops) driving....
we are heading that way in early January but from Cherbourg and not directly as far south as Malaga, perhaps a bit later in the trip.
also, we have a MH and might be travelling a bit faster than you with a caravan and we can just pull in pretty much anywhere if tiredness or road conditions dictate.
the timing of our crossing is far more leisurely than your middle of the night job, id be temted to shift it to something that gives me a better, less tiring start to the trip.
we overnight at Poole docks, ferry leaves 8:30 am and we arrive rested, breakfasted and watered at Cherbourg at 13:45 ish, and the drive to our first stop south of Nantes in daylight is an easy start of around 4 hrs on dual carriageways.
the next day is a longer push (6hrs ) to the Urrugne/Irun area for the next overnight.
getting to our first camp site feet up destination is another long day over the Plain and down to the Valencia area and Benicassim.
when we arrive we will need to chill with a vino.
we will be heading up and down the eastern spanish coast for a couple of months and may well include the Malaga area but we have weeks to cover the further 700-800 km...
for you, Urrugne to Malaga is at least another 10-12 hrs driving so thats at least two more full days.
i dont mean to paint a grim picture of the journey but if you have limited stopping places (winter open sites) this puts you on a timetable, something we dont normally have.
in summer, taking your time to enjoy the French section would be delightful but in winter the trip is just a means to an end.
take care, stay safe, but id be looking at a way to start that long trip with a more user friendly first day.
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agree with AD, thats a possibility for getting in more rest.
i assume the Dover ferry is cheaper, dog friendly?, but we only paid £140 (£280 return) from poole and its an easier drive for you and much better timings imho.
either way, good luck.
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Ha ! Nothing on earth would induce me to go further than Heathrow Airport in midwinter .
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i dont think the OP has revealed how long the total holiday is...this may have an influence on ruote and rate of coverage.
whilst I agree a stop nr Calais might seem to go against the 'advantage' of an early start, he has said that 200 miles a day is enough and (say) Warwick to Dover will cover that.
taking a short break (with three dogs?) on a ferry might not be sufficient recharging before embarking on a potential 8 hour haul to Poitiers directly on the back of the Dover trip. a shorter first destination might seem a better bet but will extend the elapsed journey time.
again, i agree that if staying at BHF or nearby thats a different case and a bit less taxing.
however, at 200 miles a day, the 1200 mile trip to Malaga will take 12 days there and back, hence my question re total duration. i hope its longer than a fortnight
i realise folk rate distance driving differently and im more than happy to do the two and a half long days it takes to get to Valencia, but for a 200 mile a day driver that would take longer and there's still possibly three further days driving for the Costa del Sol.
im sure we could get to Malaga from Irun comfortably in two days, making the journey 3 1/2 days, but that would involve greater daily milages than the OP has suggested hes happy with....and we start from a point closer than Calais.....and at a more civilised time.
as i said, im not trying to put the OP off, just giving a 'Spain first timer' realistic idea of the distances and durations involved.
we find the daytime ferry from Poole usually very calm, even on our January outward leg, and as Dover is such a long drive from here, for us its a no brainer, but we all have different travel priorities.
either way, i hope the OP is getting enough positive info to make the best of the journey and to enjoy their first trip to Spain....we love it
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FWIW,
Is this a troll wind up from Rowena & co at CMCEU to keep this forum just alive ??
So setting off in two weeks, no route plan yet, 4am arriving on a 'ferry from Calais' (surely to Calais ?), 3 dogs, suggesting pulling in for a sleep - mmmmm,
Await content removed, or a correction and my apology is at the ready.
M
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But from the OP's home to a first French campsite at Tours it's a 500 mile drive with that middle of the night crossing to Calais. I'm still hoping there's some sleeping time included somewhere along the way. .
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We have travelled this route for quite a few years in March and do the following towing a Buccaneer of 8m:
We cross the first day by Channel tunnel and stay over at Chateau Des Tilleuls - 110 km from Calais.
Then on to Tours - Camping Les Acasias - 420 km
Then on to Urrugne - Camping La Rouletta - 562 km
Then on to Aranjuez - Camping International Aranjuez - 523 Km
From there we go off to Manilva which is 581 km.
Enjoy your trip. We'll be doing this again in March next year.
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Yes, that's a popular route, but what foxed us was the fact that the original questioner said she was going in December not March - and one of your stopovers will be closed - and she was talking of only doing 200 miles a day so would need many more stopovers. But they are probably on their way by now and we may not hear how they got on .
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For what its worth, here is our itinerary for February - April 2020, crossing Portsmouth/Ouistreham towing a 7.9m twin axle with 1 dog.
27.02.20 Ferry 08.15 – arrive 15.00 Camping les Capucines – Ranville (A)
28.02.20 Ranville – Bordeaux le lac 606km / 363 miles
29.02.20 Bordeaux – Zaragoza 511km / 306 miles
01.03.20 Zaragoza – Vila Joyosa 465km / 279 miles
22.03.20 Vila Joyosa – Manilva 606km / 363 miles
05.04.20 Manilva – Getafe (A) 619km / 371 miles
06.04.20 Getafe – Urrugne 496km / 297 miles
07.04.20 Urrugne – St Maure de Touraine (A) 521 km / 312 miles
08.04.20 St Maure – Ouistreham 309km / 185 miles – Ferry 14.00 – arrive 19.15
The OP might find some of this useful. TomVDH looks like we may be at Manilva La Bella Vista at the same time as you, roughly.
Paul & Gwen
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P&G, some pretty long days in the saddle there...600+ km towing at 100kph with a couple of breaks (coffee, lunch) is going to be 7-7.5 hrs.
you have several days of over 600km, whilst some of us feel ok at this level (2hrs/2hrs/2hrs probably) OP is looking for something a bit more leisurely each day.
we do a similar trip each winter and have 2.5 longish days getting to the Valencia area from Cherbourg, but the weather is likely to be cold at that time of year and theres not much else to do other than press on for the sunshine.
in springtime our pace slows considerably, using the better weather to explore a lot more.
having gone to the western Algarve last year i know how far the southern areas are from the ports but we took many weeks to get there and back.
take care, enjoy.
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Hi BB
Yes 3 days over 600k, but am comfortable with it. We have done the Vila Joyosa or Oropesa trips several times now in October / February / March and whilst the 600+ days are tiring, its just a means of getting to the sun quicker.
As you know the French weather is crap in winter and its freezing over the Spanish plain so no point in hanging around anywhere.
First time down to Manilva but that 600k leg is after 3 weeks at VJ and well rested. Same with the Manilva - Getafe 600k leg, after 2 weeks doing nothing at Bella Vista.
The empty autoroutes at that time of year make it do-able. Gwen won't drive either, so its all down to me. She fetches the coffee from the services while me and the dog guard the 'van. Correct about the 3 legs of 2 hours each - works well and is fine for the dog's (and mine) toilet breaks and refuelling. My V8 diesel drinks the stuff at autoroute speeds with the 'van on.
Cheers Paul & Gwen
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Hi everyone ,
Just a note to thank you all for your advice & ideas reference our drive down to Southern Spain . We took your advice and stopped over night in Folkestone and caught the early ferry to Calais we have had 4 stopovers we are now at Arunjuez so it all went great .
Thanks again for your help
Malcolm & Jacqui
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